


Just the Way You Are

by leafyxthiefy



Series: Shuffled Playlist [5]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bullying, Café, M/M, Put downs, Songfic, bruno mars lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 01:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7413274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafyxthiefy/pseuds/leafyxthiefy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Law has not had the easiest time with fate, has come to terms with that. He has only felt comfortable with a certain raven, one who can see him for him, and past his walls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just the Way You Are

**Author's Note:**

> Song: Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars

_Ohhhhh ohhhhhh ohhhhhh ohhhhhhh_

Law ducked his head as he walked through the restaurant. Honestly, Law didn't even want to go _outside_ , much less to a restaurant where there were always people milling about. And these people—no matter who they were or who they pretended to be—all held one thing in common; they held unjust judgement over anyone that did not meet their standards of beauty.

Trafalgar Law was far beyond the point that would land him on the "decent looking" side of the chart to all of these people, and he knew without a doubt that this day he was going to be exposed to their cold stares and their unwarranted comments. Law just hoped that they kept all of that hostility to themselves, it was easier to handle that way.

The whispers began the moment he stepped into the restaurant that Ace had insisted they visit for take out since Law did not do very well in crowded areas. Unable to deny his boyfriend the request, Law complied and had followed him to the restaurant. Though Law and Ace visited the Baratie often enough to know its owners—mostly since the restaurant had been Law's brother's starting point in his career as a chef—Law was still uncomfortable there. It wasn't the restaurant itself nor its staff that discouraged his visits, it was the people who went there. It seemed like Law always had to go through the same disheartening ordeal when stepping into populated places, be it restaurants, markets, malls, essentially anywhere that wasn't their apartment.

The subtle stares, the open gawking, the whispers, and the occasional sneers, Law should have been desensitized to all of these factors by now. After all, he's been forced to deal with it at a nearly daily basis for sixteen years now, but truth was, he wasn't immune to it, Law could not ignore them, they only served to be a painful reminder of the past.

Ultimately, Law endured them because Ace loved this place, and if Ace loved it, then it was Law's duty as his boyfriend to accompany him, and to make Ace smile that radiant and loving smile of his.

Law could feel how tense his muscles were, and he knew his shoulders were hunched, shielding him unconsciously. He couldn't help it this action. In fact, he was too focused on this act of self protection and on how he just wanted to vanish from all the judgement when it happened.

Law bumped into a solid warm object and instantly recoiled, his gray eyes snapping up to receive a glare, one he was not prepared to face. Law shied away from the look of utter disgust in the man's eyes and mumbled an apology.

He couldn't get away with it that easily, however. No, why would fate make it any easier for him now?

"Why don't you watch where you're going you fucking freak!" the man barked out and shoved at Law.

The words always hurt more than the stares, or the occasional shove. And that time it's no different. Law bit on his bottom lip and resisted the urge to bolt, all the while remaining silent. Law resisted the urge to turn and find Ace and plead to go home; Law realized the action was cowardly but he didn't care, Law just didn't want to deal with the stare aimed directly at him.

"What, now you're deaf too?" the man asked, striding into Law's personal space and glaring down at Law, however, due to their staggering height differences, the short angry man had to incline his head upwards to meet the downcast eyes of the surgeon. To anyone else, this would have been an amusing sight; a near five foot man confronting another of over six feet, but to Law it was a nightmare. The man's shorter stature in no way lessened the effect of the man's intimidating presence and it did nothing to lessen the effect of his words. Law cringed and opened his mouth, but he was unable to get the words to form fast enough before the man was coming at him again.

"Are you going to apologize or not, you fucking piece of-"

"HEY." A strong yet highly welcome voice intervened, the youngest of all three men wiggling between the Surgeon and the offender. "Yo dude, calm the fuck down, it's not like he pissed in your coffee or something, back off."

Law looked gratefully towards Ace, shrinking behind the younger raven and casting his eyes to the floor where he could focus all of his attention and try to ignore the stares and whispers once more.

"And who the fuck are you to step into this, you little shit? Tell that prick to man the fuck up and just admit that he is a stain on society. Why the hell is he in public anyway?"

Law shrunk further behind Ace, biting his lower lip, as the urge to run become more and more compelling. His hand shook despite his best efforts as he reached out tentatively, cautiously attempting to find reassurance in Ace's balled up fist.

Apparently the action didn't go unnoticed and the man laughed, a cruel, awful sound that twisted a dark ugly feeling within the surgeon. "Ahahaha, so that's why you're cutting in, huh? You're fucking him. I guess once the light's off he's just as good a fuck as any other loser."

Law's hand froze for a moment, the sound of his shaky breath the only thing to penetrate the silence that surrounded the three men. Law ducked his head even further between the valleys of his hunched shoulders, shame and insecurity heating his face and leaving him desperately wishing to be anywhere else, preferably a place where there were fewer people, or at the very least to just go home.

"Ac-" His words are cut off from an angrily trembling Ace.

"Shut that fucking mouth of yours." The words were spoken lowly, a near growl in their rumble. And Law didn't miss how utterly menacing they are. He had seen Ace angry plenty of times, but not to this extent. The anger that was rolling off of the younger man was new, and it was putting Law seriously on edge. Releasing a hesitant breath, Law willed the hand that had been reaching towards Ace to move again, but he never made it to his destination, instead his intended target was pulled away from his reach and Ace did what got them kicked out of the restaurant.

Ace's tightly clenched fist collided with the man's face at point blank range, and Law could actually hear the damage that was dealt to the man's facial structure. As a practiced doctor, Law could tell that some substantial damage was done. Presumably, at least two teeth have been dislodged from his jaw, the most suspectible being the ones in the upper front section, but Law wasn't a dentist so he wouldn't be able to say with an up most certainty. The dead give away was actually the unmistakeable sound of crunching cartilage. Such a resounding noise could only be the distressed sound of the man's nose being broken in several places.

A scream of pain confirmed Law's thoughts, that and the fact that the man was soon trying to stop the river of blood that was guzzling from his nose in an attempt of making a shallow pool at his knees. Law would say feet, but he could see that the man had actually staggered down to his knees while trembling in both anger, and hurt. His eyes were no longer on the pair before him, the man choose instead to yell for help, asking for an ambulance to be exact.

Law knew that no such thing would be called; the man was not hurt beyond a critical state, no matter how much he wanted to believe otherwise.

"Just put some ice on it you fucking baby." Ace growled and took Law's hand, the gesture, however, was gentle, a complete contrast to his demeanor a few seconds ago.

"Excuse me, gentlemen…" the manager of the establishment began, but they both knew what was coming. They wouldn't be permitted back into this _fine_ establishment anytime soon even with Sanji's help.

Ace was fuming the entire way to the door, his quick steps dragging Law behind him, only pausing once to open Law's door of the vehicle before climbing to the driver seat where he proceeded to the nearest takeout place and ordered his meal.

Law didn't raise his head again after the incident, choosing instead to keep his eyes trained to the floor that passed underneath his feet. And after that just finding the floor of Ace's car was captivating, but not as captivating as the wall of their living room; that vertical creation of plaster was too interesting to not stare at, and Law was doing his best to get in all the staring he could. He seemed entranced, almost as if that wall was the one thing that held all of his unanswered questions.

Law knew he wouldn't receive any answers though, but the one thing he did know for sure was that he had failed Ace. His boyfriend had only wanted a meal at the restaurant, a nice and filling meal that Law was sure Ace would love, but then Law just had to go and fuck it all up.

Why did he have to be such a useless waste of space?

* * *

"Law?" the name was a hushed cautioned whisper that brought gray eyes up questioningly to the dark haired man.

The younger of the two smiled reassuringly, "Hey, listen to me. What happened back there… you know it wasn't your fault, right?"

Gray eyes fell again, and this time they came upon the angry red swell that covered Aces fist. "I'll go get the ice pack." Law mumbled, completely dodging the question and his concerned boyfriend alike, easily bypassing Ace and slipping to the kitchen.

Ace sighed and sat on the living room couch. He hadn't tried to block Law's way because he hadn't wanted to corner him, but Ace knew that Law would come back. It was one of Law's many doctorly habits to treat all of Ace's injuries, which happened quite often. A moment later, the tanned doctor sat next to Ace, gingerly taking the hand that by then only ached slightly from the assault on the other man. Ace let him do as he saw fit, he had long since learned that no amount of "I'm fine"s would ever ease Law's mind until he saw the damage with his own eyes and treated them accordingly.

So Ace had let the silence embrace them for a few more moments. He watched as the tattooed hands nimbly worked over his swollen joints gently checking for pressure and movement where necessary.

"It doesn't hurt you know." Ace said suddenly, breaking the silence, his uninjured free hand reaching out slowly to gently tilt Law's head up to face him.

"Law, look at me, you are _not_ to blame." Ace said as fiercely as he could, though managing to keep his voice gentle at the same time.

Ace felt it then, the tremors that overtook Law's frame, gray eyes clouding slightly as he tried to duck his head once more, but Ace held onto him, leaning in to press his forehead against Law's. "Shhh, it's okay. You're safe, Law, come back to me. God Law I'm so sorry this happened."

Metallic eyes closed and Law took a very audible gulp. "I should be the one apologizing, Ace-ya… I-I should have looked where I was going and I should have just ducked into the nearest booth, I..."

Anger returned to Ace as he saw how deeply the situation was hurting Law, and like hell he was going to let that asshole continue to hurt his lover even after they'd left. Ace sighed, and pulled away just far enough so that he could look at Law clearly. "It wasn't because of you, you know. That scumbag," It was a struggle for Ace to even acknowledge him as a human being, but he would manage, somehow. "is just a prick that gets off on belittling others, I bet he even gets off on calling his mom-"

"Ace-ya…" the word was but a mere whisper as those stunning gray eyes met his for a second, wavering under the intense fiery gaze of the younger raven. "Why do you put up with this Ace-ya, the whispers, the stares… why?" _Do you put up with me_? the silent words hung between them, and Ace found himself angry once again, but for a different reason.

The bastard got into Law's head with those last comments, like fucking hell would Ace let that stupid son of a bitch get in the way of Law's happiness. "I don't put up with anything, Law. People stare, they gossip, and it makes me furious that I can't do anything to stop that, but it only bothers me because it upsets _you_.

Those dumbasses don't know what they're talking about,they're just ignorant self absorbed dickwads, and try as we might, we can't escape them. But what we can do is choose to not listen to them. Law, you know they aren't right about you. Motherfuckers like that douche can be cruel, and I'm only sorry that I can't protect you from them." Ace confessed, his eyes reflecting the sorrow that had quickly consumed his raging anger.

"I'll never forgive them for this, especially not the kind of shit that fuckwad tried to pull, he had no right to say that, and I don't want you thinking that I _put up_ with you! Law, if I could, I would personally beat up every single person who even dared to look the wrong way in your direction, but Sabo says he can only bail me out of jail so many times." Ace tried to make the other man smile, but when it was clear that Law wasn't going to initiate the action, Ace smiled first. "Law I _want_ to be here, with you"

"But why, Ace-ya, look at me…"

"I am looking at you, and want to know what I see?" Ace asked finally pulling his numbed hand away from the cold fingers, gently setting the ice pack on the floor, his natural body heat flooding the cold area for a pleasant sensation.

_Oh, your* eyes, your* eyes_

_Make the stars look like they're not shinin'_

_your* hair, your* hair_

_Falls perfectly without you* trying_

Ace carded his warming hand through Law's soft mane of raven and stark white strands—the discoloration hadn't stopped at just his skin after all—his smile widening as Law's eyes widened slightly. God how he loved staring into those eyes, that shade of gray didn't exist anywhere else in Ace's mind, such a brilliant color belonged only to Law; a steel gray that was flecked with small hints of amber if you were lucky enough to look closely into them.

The slightest of nods was given by the surgeon, which only widened Ace's smile as he traced his thumb along Law's sideburn and brushing against his cheek, "Law, _you're* so beautiful, and I tell you* everyday,_ don't I?" Ace asked with a cheeky grin.

" _Yeah,_ but Ac-" he was cut off by his boyfriend's fingers upon his lips.

" _I know, I know. When I compliment you*, you* don't* believe me. And it's so* sad to think that you don't see what I see, but every time you* asks yourself*, "Do I look okay?" I say; When I see your face*, there's not a thing that I would change, 'cause_ Law _you're amazing. Just the way you are."_

Doubt flashed in those speckled gray eyes; all those years of ridicule, belittling, and self loathing having taken their toll on the surgeon. But Ace continued, maintaining the gentle pressure over his lover's lips, his own widening as he continued.

" _And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while, 'cause Law*, you're amazing. Just the way you are."_ Ace leaned in to emphasize his words with a kiss to the man's nose, the sweet gesture lasting just long enough to make the discolored cheeks brighten with a soft pink hue.

' _Yeah, mission Accomplished,'_ Ace thought triumphantly.

Knowing that he had Law's attention, Ace continued, voicing his innermost thoughts as best he could—he had never been quite good at that, really. " _Your* lips._ Law _your* lips, I could kiss them all day if you'd* let me. And your laugh_ * _... your* laugh, you* hate it* but I think it's so sexy. You're* so beautiful, and I tell you* everyday."_ Ace paused to gaze lovingly at his best friend, his boyfriend, his childhood love.

" _Oh you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change. If perfect's what you're searching for, Then just stay the same. So don't even bother wondering* if you look okay. Do you know what* I'll say?"_ Ace asked, his words gently challenging Law. Ace wanted the surgeon to see himself as Ace saw him, not as the vulnerable man that people so liked to tease and look down on. Law was a beautiful kind hearted man who had suffered too many hardships in his earlier childhood, he had had enough; Law didn't need further shit in his adulthood.

Law made to duck his head again, but Ace's gentle hand forbade him the movement, continuing to flash Law his trademark smile, gently running his thumb over his cheek again and again, caressing the soft flesh. "Law look at me, you know I would never say anything I don't mean, you're beautiful."

* * *

Law couldn't turn his eyes away from those fiery dark eyes that held him captive, and Law was highly inclined to believe Ace. Law _wanted_ to believe Ace, he so very much wanted to, but… Law had lived his life far too long believing that his patches of discolored flesh were bad. The only thing these patches that had been left behind by tragedy had achieved was secluding him further from the rest of the world.

These patches had made everyone cautious of him, had made him an outcast until the day a wonderful family had taken him in. Law would forever be thankful to the blonde man, but even he had been unable to fully break past all of Law's walls.

Only a certain dark haired teen that lived next to them had been able to burn all of Law's walls to a smoldering pile of ash. That pain in the ass teen had just looked over the fence one day, his narrowed eyes already glaring at a younger Law who had naturally flinched under the intense gaze.

Jumping from his swing, Law had scurried quickly into the house and had avoided the outside world like the plague it was for a full month until Cora-san was forced to personally drag him over to their neighbor's house to become acquainted with the boy and his family. It was there that Law met the three most annoying trio of siblings to ever exist.

One of them however, Law found, was much more tolerable than the other two. The boy's name was Ace, and the young man was an honest to god pain in the ass, very selfish, obnoxious, and overall a complete doofus. But, somehow Ace had managed to worm his way into Law's heart and convince him that he didn't hate Law's skin discoloration. Ace said he actually thought it was neat and made him unique. And after a while, with the most endearing blush on his freckled face, Ace confessed that he thought Law's patchwork made him beautiful. Needless to say, Law fell completely for him at that moment. And despite all of Ace's odd qualities,narcolepsy included, Law supposed that Ace was his dork in the end, and he wouldn't wish it any other way.

It was true, from that day forward, Ace had never once let Law forget that he thought Law was beautiful, even with the hideous scars left on most of his physique.

Around him, Ace's speech echoed in both of their ears, the soft words swirling around them gently.

_When I see your face (face, face...)_

_There's not a thing that I would change_

_'Cause Law* you're amazing (amazing)_

_Just the way you are (are)_

Law's eyes softened as he leaned into the gentle hand that cradled his face so tentatively as if he would break with a single touch. In truth, Law had often felt as such, vulnerable to the entire world, easily broken, no matter how much he tried to improve his tolerance towards the stares and comments. He just couldn't love the scars that Ace thought of beautiful were the one thing that had robbed him of his happiness.

Law had been a normal kid growing up in his small hometown of Flevance. He had a loving family, life was great with his mom, dad, and his little sister Lamie. Law was happy, they had all been happy. That is until tragedy struck, and Law's family was taken from him and left him with irreversible marks on his flesh. Why this had happened to the Trafalgars was a mystery to this day and since then, Law endured everything for his family's sake; they would have wanted him to continue on his path to being a surgeon, to being a doctor that could help others and to save families the way he had been unable to save his own.

It was easy to see why it hurt him so deeply that people thought so badly about his scars. The scars that had also decorated his mother, his father and his sister Lamie, and every time they looked down on him, they reminded him of his lost family. At first it had been the cruelty of small children, they were possibly the cruelest people in the world. So blunt and disgustedly honest, it had pissed Law off more than anything until suddenly, his spark just… spluttered and died, his anger hadn't been able to keep up with the disdain, the hate, the absolute look of abhorrence Law received. His spirit broke down, he had only been a boy of ten after all. And as it turned out, adults weren't any better than those that they raised.

By the time he had reached Cora-san and his family, it was nearly too late; Law had already lost his smile. And it remained lost until he met Ace.

_And when you smile (smile, smile...)_

_The whole world stops and stares for a while_

_'Cause, Law*, you're amazing (amazing)_

_Just the way you are (are)_

_The way you are_

_The way you are_

_Law* , you're amazing (amazing)_

_Just the way you are (are)_

Law had been sitting in the small swing in their backyard again, avoiding his shitty adoptive brother Sanji and his two other sisters Nami and Nojiko. He just wanted to be alone, and even though Law had been assured time and time again that he had nothing to fear from them, Law still held doubts. He had caught them looking at him plenty of times and somehow, the pity he saw there hurt more than the outright glares of others.

There was one boy who didn't look at him with either emotion though. True, Ace had at first glowered at him, but that had been because he had thought Law was breaking into Cora-san's back yard. After they had been introduced, Ace had apologized and the two slowly became friends. Ace was Law's only real friend really.

* * *

It was early in the morning, a Saturday if he remembered correctly. Law was older now, fourteen. And still he feared the awful look in stranger's eyes. Ace had come to realize that Law was not a coward as he initially thought, he was just self conscious and highly sensitive of the marks on his skin. Law was introverted, not weak.

Somehow, along the way Ace had made it his personal mission to make the older of them smile, at least once a day. So far he had been unsuccessful.

Ace joined him that morning, easily hopping over the fence that separated their yards. "Day 100, and still not even a muscle twitch, eh Trafalgar?" Ace mused, not bothering with 'good morning's, they had seen each other not even two hours ago. With Law having chronic insomnia, Ace had offered to stay up with him and star gaze. Law enjoyed those nights, they were peaceful and in the dark, no one could see his white patches.

Law shook his head, silent as usual.

Ace sighed and gave a huff as he bit his bottom lip. "Lu asked me the strangest question last night, you know."

Law raised a brow; the younger of the siblings was strange to begin with, so normally his asking a strange question was hardly out of the norm. Yet this was Ace saying that the question was weird, so how strange had it actually been? Law waited for Ace to continue.

Taking the silence as his cue to continue, Ace sighed and looked at Law directly in the eyes. Immediately the pair of gray eyes shifted to look away; Law couldn't handle direct eye contact for too long, even with Ace. "He asked why I was trying so hard to get you to smile, and of course Sabo decided to butt in, and both of them kept bugging me about until I told them to shut up and came out here with you to watch the stars. And, you know until then, I really hadn't thought much of it. So it got me wondering, why _do_ I want to see you smile, Trafalgar?"

_When I see your face_

_There's not a thing that I would change_

_'Cause Law* you're amazing (amazing)_

_Just the way you are (are)_

Law had wondered that himself countless times, had thought about the many reasons until his brain had gone numb and he had actually gotten an hour or two of sleep. "Beats me."

Ace hummed, surprised to have gotten a verbal reply from the sullen teen.

"Why do I want to see you smile? Why do I want to try my hardest to get the smallest bit of a smile? I was thinking about that last night as we gazed up into the stars. And then I turned and looked at you as you looked up, and I don't think you saw me looking, but that's when it hit me." Ace stated, slowly coming to stand before Law, going as far as to kneel before the boy in the swing, brushing back white and onyx tresses.

"As I watched you for those few seconds, I saw the reason of why I wanted to see you smile." Ace confessed, his cheeks gaining the same pink shade as a sunset sometimes had. It was this shade against the pale flesh of adorning freckles that made Law cautiously meet his gaze.

"I knew I would see the most…" Ace paused, faltering in his words as his face became redder, obviously it wasn't easy to say what he wanted to say. This was stirring both a mix of curiosity and anxiety in Law, unsure of what the outcome would be. He didn't sense any hostility from Ace; a mild frustration and flustered air for sure, but nothing threatening.

"What I want to say is… Law-I-think-a-smile-would-look-beautiful-on-your-face!" the younger teen blurted out, red as a tomato and rushing the sentence out, unable to look Law in the eyes gave Law time to blink and process the onslaught of words Ace had just thrown at him.

"There I said it!" Ace proclaimed, and that's when it hit Law: the younger boy was embarrassed.

Law had seen the younger boy express many things, but never this, and somehow that alone was enough for Law to let his stoic expression slip. A smile appeared and laughter soon followed.

Only after Law had regained his composure did the severity of the speech hit, Ace had _confessed_!

_And when you smile_

_The whole world stops and stares for a while_

_'Cause, Law*, you're amazing_

_Just the way you are_

* * *

Ace leaned in and gently pressed his lips against those of the surgeon's; a small chaste kiss that meant more than the world to both of them.

"You're perfect Law, don't let the world make you think otherwise. But first you must believe that you _are_ beautiful. Law, promise me we'll work on this together."

Law worried at his bottom lip, he had tried time and time again, and each time he had failed. He had let those ugly emotions get the best of him, had let them confine him to a cruel world where he could barely find any happiness. But with Ace, with the passionate fire of his best friend and boyfriend, Law could possibly find it in himself to accept his scars finally. That would be the first step, and with Ace, he knew he could believe it, some day.

" _Yeah,_ I promise, Ace-ya _."_

**Author's Note:**

> Changes to the song include:
> 
> *all of "her/she/girl" = "you/Law"*
> 
> *"it's so" was shortened to one time said*
> 
> *every time she asks me = every time you ask yourself*
> 
> *Law was added in front of most "you're"s*
> 
> *She hates = you hate it*
> 
> *asking if you = asking yourself*


End file.
